Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun has indicated that Nigeria is getting out of recession and getting on to a path of growth that will be sustainable.

“I think we are getting out of recession, all the statistics seems to suggest that but more importantly, we are getting on the part of growth that will be sustainable so we can see a future for Nigeria. So I think it is getting better,” she added.

The Finance Minister, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, said that when the Muhammadu Buhari administration came in, the Nigeria economy inherited lots of issues from the previous administration and the economy needed to go through radical surgery and fixes.

“We inherited a lot of problems, the Nigerian economy didn’t just need a little bit of fix here and there but needed radical surgery and to heal it will take a little bit longer,” she said.

On infrastructural development, the minister stated that the Federal Government is looking at a long-term thing in infrastructure and the wider economy, which is why it seems like the growth of the economy is slow.

She regretted that one of the issues affecting the economy is unemployment. “We have people that have been unemployed for about 10 years and the economy and job market cannot absorb them,” Mrs. Adeosun said.

She proffered solution to the issue of unemployment as getting the economy productive, for businesses to open up, employ people and have input substitution.

Giving suggestions, she stated that the clothing industry can provide employment for tailors, manufactures, lawyer, accountants amongst others.

She insisted that jobs must be created for the unemployed.

Food Prices

The Minister explained that the food price escalation is not the produce but the high cost of transportation that is needed for produce to be taken from the rural areas to the urban locations.

She added that the government is proffering solutions to help reduce the cost of transportation by supporting the farmers through infrastructure.

•Adapted from a Channels TV report.

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